Acceleration
by nagami cabasa
Summary: x Sonadow - Life was rough for Sonic growing up. But now he's in college and working as a pro skateboarder. All's well, but there's still a void... until one day, he meets the quiet Shadow. Ruby locked with emerald, and Sonic began to fall. Fast. ;; AU
1. To Prelude

**ACCELERATION** by nagami cabasa  
"Sonic is a professional skateboarder and Shadow is a novelist. One isn't who he says he is. What in the world could bring these two starkly different worlds together—a chao? ... Seriously? (Sonadow)"

A/N: Hello & welcome to 'acceleration'! I've had this story idea for around a year or two but it wasn't until recently did I start planning it out and drafting and all that jazz. The main pairing will be _Sonadow_, Sonic x Shadow, so if that's not your cup of tea... I suggest reading it! Maybe it'll convert you. ;D I know I put the genre as general, but really it has a little bit of everything, so be prepared!

This first chapter is like a prelude of sorts, hence the weird tensing everywhere... hmm...

Anyway, this story may not be what you expect, so I hope many of you stick around for the ride! And don't worry I won't talk so much in future chapters. xD

Without further ado...

* * *

_acceleration +1: To Prelude_

"3 weeks!?"

Sonic flinched a little at how high-pitched the surprised squeal was. He nodded back anyway. "Well, yeah—"

"Wahh! What am I supposed to do for three weeks!? I don't think you've even been gone for three _days!_" the white hero chao sobbed, making the hedgehog 'oof!' in pain as she tackled him to the ground and sobbed in his tan chest.

"I'm sorry, little buddy! But you haven't even heard where I'm going—Canada!"

"Canada?! Ah, I love maple syrup and moose! Take me with you!"

Sonic had to laugh at that. What a silly girl he ended up raising... he glanced down as she sat on his stomach. "Aww man Kaiba, as much as I want to, you know that's kinda not possible. I mean maybe there's a chao portal in the city we're going to, but otherwise... I'll definitely see what I can do, okay?"

"..." Kaiba hung her head. "Okay..." She punched his stomach. "At least tell me about it. Before you leave and everything."

The blue hedgehog twitched as he lost his breath a second time from her violence. He had to hand it to her though; for a little squishy thing, Kaiba was pretty freaking strong. Maybe it'd be a good idea to stop buying so much chao fruit for a little bit...

But Sonic just sighed and sat up. "Okay, well... I think this might be a really good experience for me, especially cuz of that huge tournament and all. Plus there's this really sweet park over in Alberta—and I might even get to meet some underground dudes and if I'm lucky, even shred with them! This could be my chance too, maybe some big shot will see me and I'll get to go pro...!"

"Ahh, goals are such a lovely thing," Kaiba sighed in envy. "That sounds sooo much fun."

"Yeah..." the hedgehog looked down at the chao in his lap. He smiled a little sadly and pat her head. "I'd seriously take you with me if I could."

"I know." She gave him an adorable smile. "But o'course, don't let me hold you back from becoming the next Tony Hawk."

"Wait a sec... you're okay with it?"

"Yeah, of course! You'd hafta go whether I liked it or not," Kaiba giggled and hugged his face. She looked off into the distance, dramatically extending one arm. "So go, my dear Sonikku, go to Canada! Go shred with your underground homies, rip up the streets of Toronto and come back a hero!"

"Kaiba..." Sonic had to hold back a sob, clearly touched. His beloved chao had granted him permission to leave! He suddenly stood up, making Kaiba squeak in fear as she almost fell crashing to the ground. Emerald eyes sparkled in freshly hatched enthusiasm and gazed into the heavens. "Yes! I will conquer all odds! I will battle to the death, wiping out all those in my way, and I PROMISE you, my dear Kaiba, I will come back not a hero, but a LEGEND!"

A volunteer tapped him on the shoulder.

Sonic whirled around. "Yes, beautiful maiden!?"

"Please sir, keep your voice down. It's naptime."

Sonic and Kaiba blinked as they looked around. Indeed most of the chao in the garden were sleeping... or at least they were. Now half of them were groggily sitting up and giving the two death glares.

"... Ahaha, my bad..."

- - -

After Sonic hugged his chao one last time, he was finally kicked out of the garden for being too loud. He laughed on the path home as he recalled the woman's sour expression after the fifth time she told them to shush. Sonic couldn't help it though; just being with his hyperactive little girl made him happy and hyper himself.

It was Tails and Amy's suggestion to get a chao so that he would be distracted and stop getting in trouble on the streets.

He remembered back in high school how every so often he'd get busted for doing something stupid and then show up at Knuckles' doorstep with his wrists in handcuffs. "This yours?" a cop would ask the echidna, gesturing at the scowling blue hedgehog in front of him.

"Not really, but I'll take it. Thanks a lot officer."

"Yeah, yeah." A slight shove and Sonic was in the apartment, growling at the cop's retreating footsteps until Knuckles gestured at the couch, told him to shut up and go to sleep already.

Sonic never meant to cause so much trouble for Knuckles. He actually owed the echidna a lot—while he was in middle school Sonic became one of those lost souls after his parents died in a train accident. He was the only child, so there weren't any siblings to help him out. He pushed the rest of his family away, pushed his friends away, and turned to running and skateboarding since he felt then that those were the only two things he had going for himself. School subjects other than P.E. were just a pain in the ass, and Sonic refused to join track because running was a personal hobby he wanted to keep to himself. So from then on skateboarding consumed his life, not just because he loved it, but whether he realized it or not it was to help distract him from the shattering pain of loneliness that's felt when beloved ones are lost.

Unfortunately, one day while ripping up the half pipe the wrong crowd managed to find him. They complimented his skills and offered a place in their group for him. Being an outcast, Sonic had nowhere else to go and so he more than willingly agreed. He had finally found a place where he could belong... at least temporarily.

Then one day he unknowingly ratted to a 'rival' gang about some group break-in planned for later that evening. Some kids in his group got busted, sent to juvie, and of course the blame was on the hedgehog. Twelve to one were odds that weren't anywhere near Sonic's favor, so as he lay in that dark alley practically bleeding to death but still cursing at his so-called friends, he decided that was that. Soon he'd see his mom and dad...

... When suddenly out of nowhere a red blur appeared, delivering a swift kick to the leader's jaw succeeded by quick punches at the rest of the group. One by one the goons fell. Then a barely conscious Sonic felt the strong arms of that blur pick him up, followed by a panicked voice.

"Dude, are you okay!? Holy shit, too much blood... hospital, hospital, where the hell is the hospital...!"

Next thing Sonic knew he was lying in a hospital bed, unable to see through one eye, a throbbing cut on his lip and his body wrapped in so much bandages he could have been mistaken for a mummy. Beside him was a little orange fox that sobbed upon his awakening and hugged him so hard his wounds almost reopened.

Knuckles told him later that the little fox was his friend and had always been a fan of Sonic's skateboarding.

"So how'd he end up here?"

"He showed me the way to the hospital."

"... Ah."

When Sonic was good enough to walk, the three were standing outside the hospital as Knuckles handed him back his skateboard.

"Thanks..." Sonic looked down at his board; there was black tape over the section that cracked after those three guys had first shoved him to the floor. A sad attempt to repair it... but Sonic managed a tiny smile as he ran his thumb over the tape, just to make sure it stuck well enough. "Seriously. I probably would be dead right now if it weren't for you guys."

"Heh, probably." grinned Knuckles as he gave a slight shrug. "But hey man, no problem. At all. I know what that's like; having people you thought were your friends backstab ya. Total downer."

Sonic looked up at him through his eye patch.

Knuckles laughed a little. "Our high school isn't that big, yanno. We see you around."

And when Sonic thought about it, he did remember seeing an obnoxious red echidna threatening another kid across the hall and shaking his fist, dreads flying every which way in anger. Maybe once he saw a two-tailed fox waiting outside the school for him (Tails was still in elementary or junior high). Though Knuckles had his own clique, as most people did in high school, and if Sonic thought hard enough he could remember another pink fuzzball plus a few more other kids hanging around with them too.

"So, you're gonna head home now?" Tails asked innocently.

"Well..." A quirky, lop-sided smile. "Not really."

"... Where, then?"

"Wherever the wind takes me." Sonic threw his board to the ground and almost pushed off until he heard the echidna's voice again.

"You're a runaway. Nowhere to go. Just crashed with those punks from before. Am I right, or am I right?"

The blue hedgehog stopped in his tracks. He looked over his shoulder at them, eyes narrowing. "... Yeah, so what."

Knuckles just grinned haughtily. He nudged Tails. Nodding, the twin-tailed fox went over to Sonic and held out a piece of paper.

"What's this?"

"An address." The fox smiled and backed up as soon as Sonic took hold of it. "If you don't feel like sleeping out in the cold, drop on by. We're ordering pizza tonight!"

Knuckles gave a tiny salute. "O'course, it's up to you."

Sonic looked down at the paper.

Then he crumpled it in his fist, shoved it in his pocket and took off. The echidna just shrugged again; he tried, didn't he? So he just hopped on his own skateboard and pushed off as well. Meanwhile Tails wiped the grin off his face before following his red friend on his own board.

A few hours later, Knuckles and Tails found a drenched Sonic outside their apartment door. Of all days the sky chose to rain. Needless to say they just laughed and welcomed him in.

And so, Sonic's been with them ever since. He decided to get his act together. Of course he missed his parents, but his initial grief was gone and Sonic knew for sure that if they randomly came back to life one day they wouldn't be too happy seeing their only son with a bunch of goons trying to jack an electronic store. Thanks to Knuckles, Tails, and their friend Amy, Sonic was finally able to get his life together. His carefree, devil-may-care attitude had restored and he began to create goals for himself, started dreaming, and began to act upon them.

As soon as he was healthy enough, Sonic started skateboarding again. Knuckles was actually a sponsored skater already and Tails wanted to become one, so Sonic had found awesome skating partners and friendship in them as well.

It wasn't long before somebody up there in the skating scene noticed the hedgehog's talent and signed him up to be sponsored. Be paid to skate? Man, was he ready for a world like that! But Sonic for some reason tended to attract trouble, so even though he basically got it together he would still get in random messes with other punks on the street. Hence why Amy and Tails came up with the chao suggestion. So far it was working.

Now, three years after Sonic graduated high school, Tails had been signed to a sponsor too, Knuckles went pro and now Sonic was looking to do the same. The coming competition in Toronto was going to be the biggest one this season, and if he really wanted to stand out he would have to bring on his best game.

But really, other than the occasional worries, Sonic quite liked how his life was turning out.

Good life, good friends, good job, and even good ambitions to keep him going... one could say he pretty much had it all. He was finally happy.

... Yet, for some reason, unsatisfied.

'_Jeez, way to be ungrateful huh,'_ he laughed a bit at himself, considering all he's been through. But he just couldn't help it.

There was something...

... Missing.

But he shrugged it off as he neared the stairs leading to the second floor of their apartment. Every once in a while he would get that weird empty feeling, but since Sonic was an impatient kind of guy and it seemed like he had to do some serious soul-searching, he never really bothered delving any deeper...

"What's up, guys!" Sonic greeted cheerfully as he yanked open the door. He kicked his shoes off, tossed his board and backpack aside and automatically went to the kitchen. "Food? Is there any?"

Tails looked up from his laptop on the coffee table. The little fox was always such a good student.

Sonic eyed the homework on the table and smirked. Though it's not like Tails really needed to study; kid was so smart he skipped two grades to be a senior in high school who consequently had upcoming SATs. _'His brain's probably the size of Einstein's.'_

Einstein fox-version gestured to the dining table. "For lunch they were handing out chili dogs so I brought—"

"CHILI DOGS!!" Sonic cried out rabidly upon peeking into a brown paper bag. He began stuffing his face.

"... Yeah..."

"AAAGGHH!" came an exasperated scream from the doorway. Both looked over to see a steaming Knuckles coming in cursing his head off. He slammed the door behind him, the other two looking around the apartment as the walls rattled from the force. "PHYSICS! DAMN YOU, PHYSICS!"

"You failed, didn't you?" Sonic flashed a cheeky grin the echidna's direction as he passed holding a plate of his food, hopping over the couch and turning the TV on.

"G-Go to hell!"

Tails had to sweatdrop at them. "Jeez Knux, why'd you even sign up for physics in the first place when you know you're not good at math..."

"I thought... it'd help cuz I skate and snowboard and do all that... I didn't know it was practically _all _math! Damn, if I wanted math I would have signed up for Algebra or something!" Knuckles huffed and puffed and looked at the crumbled paper in his hand. "Freaking a... I studied six hours for that damn test...!!"

"Six hours you should have spent sleeping. I bet if Sonic didn't smack you awake you would've been late and got a zero..."

"Oh yeah, Mr. Smarty-pants?! So I should bow down to Sonic now, that what you're saying!?"

"Damn straight," the blue hedgehog grinned through another mouthful of chili dogs.

".... ARRGGHH."

Tails snickered as he watched Knuckles drag himself to his bedroom muttering something along the lines of, 'Shit I'm gonna fail this course dammit I don't wanna take another one dlgkdffdaa...' and kicking a random basketball away. Sonic laughed too and gave Tails a high five before finishing off his grub. But then Knuckles came back out because he remembered he was hungry and was now fishing around in the kitchen.

The hedgehog stared down at the empty plate, listened to Knuckles still muttering in the kitchen, and glanced at Tails dutifully finishing his homework assignment. "Hey Knux," he grinned, holding his plate up.

"Put it in the sink yourself, I ain't your damn slave."

Tails laughed.

Sonic grinned and got up, sticking his tongue out at Knuckles's back (who gave him the finger without even turning around) and placing the plate in the sink.

If something really were missing, it'd come around sooner or later.

Or maybe Sonic really was just being ungrateful. Who knew?

- - -

A car honked its horn loudly, long and continuous. A few people on the street looked at the pathfinder revving its engine impatiently as it waited outside the apartment.

"Calm the eff down! Take a pill or something..." Sonic half laughed, half grumbled as he threw a couple of more things in his bag.

Today was the big day... of his flight, at least.

"Sonic, you ass monkey!! Are you _trying_ to miss the plane or what?!" came an angry voice from outside. Sonic sweatdropped. For some reason Knuckles sounded more stressed out than he did, which was strange since he wasn't the one who had a flight in thirty minutes...

"Sonic," came a frantic, definitely more feminine voice that also sounded closer. A pink hedgehog popped up in the doorway, searching the apartment for the blue one. "Where are you?? Tails can't hold Knuckles back for long!" she sobbed dramatically, hoping it'd get Sonic to pack faster. Would someone enlighten her as to why in the world he didn't pack the night before?

"I was practicing my kickturns on the ramp last night, okay," the male hedgehog called from his bedroom in reply, knowing what she was thinking. "And then when I got home... I knocked out. But that's not the point! And I'm almost done, I swear! Why's Knux so uptight anyway!?"

"Well you know, short temper," Amy laughed a little sheepishly. She rubbed her forehead as another long beep resounded in the air. She could imagine the echidna's rabid expression and Tails curling up in the back seat covering his ears...

"There! Done!" With one last zip Sonic finished packing, adjusting his backpack and then slinging an additional green and white duffel bag over his shoulder. He zoomed out of the bedroom he bunk-bedded in with Tails, then out the apartment door. "Okay Ames, c'mon!"

"Erm..."

He whirled around. "What now!?"

Amy sighed as she picked up the skateboard at the side of the doorway. "I think you might need this."

"Oh—OH! Oh my god," Sonic cackled sheepishly as he took it from her. "Thank you!"

The female hedgehog just giggled at his hurriedness, locking the apartment door with the keys Tails lent her. Then she started pushing him. "Hurry, before Knux runs someone over!"

A few minutes of road rage on the freeway later, the four somehow arrived at the airport with the car miraculously in one piece. Knuckles pulled up to the curb and after lugging Sonic's duffel bag out the back, they all piled out and surrounded him.

"So now, it's all up to you!" Knuckles slapped both hands on the blue hedgehog's shoulders. Thankfully his temper cooled. "Go rip it up over there in Canada, okay? Don't come back a loser! Or else we're disowning you!"

Sonic had to sweatdrop at those words. Leave it to Knuckles to "inspire" somebody... "Uh, okay Knux... thanks...?"

"You can do it, Sonic!" included Tails. "Those guys have nothing against you. I researched. I know."

"Heh, thanks buddy!" Sonic scooped up the tiny fox in a hug. And leave it to Tails to research the competition. "You keep practicin' out here, own that primo by the time I get back!"

"You know it!"

"SONIIIIIIC!" Amy sobbed, throwing herself over the hedgehog. "BEAT THEM ALL! SHOW THEM WHAT YOU'RE MADE OF!"

Knuckles and Tails laughed as they watched the blue male almost fall over. Backpack plus duffel bag plus hedgehog did not equal a light load. "Ack—! I definitely will, Ames, but please don't kill me before I even get there!"

Nodding, Amy sweatdropped at herself as she stepped back. "Oopsies."

The red echidna made a shoo-ing gesture with one hand. "All right already, go before the plane leaves without you." Nodding, Sonic gave his friends a final thumbs up before zooming into the building.

As the hedgehog ran through the international terminal in LAX, he couldn't help but gawk at all the diversity around him. Humans and furries of all races and ethnicities weaved in and out through the large crowd. To his left a group of Asians were following a lady waving a USA flag. To his right a family of furries speaking French were checking in their luggage.

Somehow Sonic checked in as well, reached the security threshold and even passed with no problem. But after shoving his Soap shoes on it wasn't long before he got distracted again. The sounds of all the different languages around him, the smell of fast food, the aura of panic, relief, worry, and excitement that the passengers in the terminal held. The atmosphere was invigorating, even just to watch and appreciate all the different kinds of people around him. It'd been a while since Sonic had been in an airport, much less in the international terminal so everything fascinated him beyond belief...

... So much, that he wasn't paying attention when he accidentally bumped shoulders with a dark hedgehog.

Finally Sonic snapped out of it enough to hear the 'ow' the other one had muttered. "Ah! I'm sorry!" Sonic turned and apologized. Hopefully the stranger understood English...

"It's all right," came the reply, voice deep and smooth. With that, Sonic turned back around and continued on his way.

But he had to glance over at his shoulder.

What a peculiar feeling that was; it felt like a shock of electricity coursed through his body, just from that simple bump...

Though at the same time it also jogged Sonic's memory. Indeed, his flight was about to leave in... Sonic looked at his watch.

One minute!?

He looked around, frantically asking a random person where Gate 7 was.

A few feet away, the unmoving stranger watched with ruby eyes as Sonic ran down the hallway, past his gate, curse, back up, before finally shoving the ticket in the lady's hand and laughing in relieved victory that he had made his flight.

Lips turned up in an amused smile. And the dark hedgehog turned and headed towards the exit of the terminal.

* * *

R&R? :3


	2. To Breathe

A/N: Thank you so much, You can run but you can't hide, Trauts, Wolfkitteh, and WolfKitty! (lol aww your usernames! :P) Yes I do love this story quite a bit, and nowadays I'm just thankful if people even glance at my stuff, so really thanks you guys for your kind words. :D I've taken your advice too Trauts, hehehe~

Anyways AHH I'm sorry it took so long—one month! Unacceptable! *sobs and bows* Haha, it's only the second chapter but man was it really giving me issues. o.O I might come back and edit it later. Yay for editing systems!

Okies, chappy two~

* * *

_acceleration +2: To Breathe_

Ah, to feel the grass crunch beneath his feet and a soft breeze ghost his cheek...!

He inhaled deeply, enjoying the peace the open garden brought to him, especially since he knew it was going to be interrupted at any moment.

He closed his eyes. _'Three... two... one...'_

"SONIIIIIIIC!"

This time the hedgehog was prepared when a squishy white ball tackled him to the floor. He laughed from the phoenix wings tickling his snout before lifting the chao from his chest, dangling her in the air. "Hey~! That's my name, don't wear it out!"

"I missed you so much!" Kaiba was basically sputtering and sobbing over Sonic's arrival. She was so happy; mixed emotions came over her and couldn't decide if she wanted to squeal or cry, so it seemed like she was doing both.

And Sonic couldn't help but laugh at his chao, she looked silly. But boy, was he glad to see her! "I missed you too, little buddy," he wiped the tears from her eyes. "But yanno what? I've got great news!"

"R... really? What is it?"

"Dry your tears kid, this is pretty big."

The white chao hastily did so, clearing her throat and taking a deep breath. "Okay, okay. I'm ready."

Sonic grinned a gigantic grin. He stayed like that for a few seconds.

Eventually Kaiba smacked him. "What is it!?"

"I went pro!"

"You went — WHAT?!"

"Pro!"

"... Fessional?"

"... Wha?"

"PROFESSIONAL!?"

"_Oh!_ YEAH!"

"OHMYGOSHI'MSOPROUDOFYOU!" she squealed and stuck to his face. "I _knew_ it! I _knew_ you could do it! Yaaaay!"

"_SHHHHHHH!_"

Both turned to look at the voice. There standing a few feet away was the same lady from three weeks ago, glaring her threatening glare. Around her were a couple of sleeping chao.

"... Why do I always come here when it's nap time."

"Because you have great timing, that's why." Kaiba took Sonic's hand and pulled him in the direction of the entrance. "C'mon, let's go outside. I wanna hear all about the tournament!"

_x – x – x_

Across the street was a park for play and relaxation where residents would often take their children. Since it was directly across the chao garden facility, many owners did the same for their chao as well.

And there sitting on one of the swings was Kaiba, swinging up and down gleefully. Beside her Sonic was swinging as well, maybe not as energetically since he was describing his experience in Canada. "... And yeah, that other guy was there too, the silver one? But I don't know, I wasn't too worried about him. Probably cuz he was entered into a different division and he refuses all offers anyway."

"Oah, _that_ kid," Kaiba laughed as she remembered one of their previous conversations about the hedgehog's skating life. "As he's known to the rest of you guys, it's 'The dude that always says no!'"

"Sheesh, whatta weird guy," Sonic sighed. "I don't understand how he can turn down all those promoters that come up to him. Doesn't he know how many other skaters would beg to be signed as much as he's been asked?"

"... Wow, it's that much?"

"Yeah." He laughed a little. "Well, whatever. Guess some people prefer paying for all their gear. Cuz for sure he likes the sport enough... or maybe he doesn't want the attention."

"Ooh, maybe he's hiding something!"

"... Maybe."

A pause.

"But anyway!" The blue hedgehog kicked at a random pinecone that the wind blew in front of him. "So even though I was up against some pretty tough dudes in my division I managed to nab first place. After the ceremony people from Sega Company came up to me, we talked, and bada-bing bada-boom I have a meeting this weekend to talk about a video shoot next month!"

"Uwahh, so cool!" Kaiba squealed and danced around in her seat, Sonic grinning as he saw her excitement. "Did I mention how proud I am of you? Haha, I feel like a mom excited that her son got into college or something!"

"Sounds like it," he laughed back. Sonic rolled his shoulders back a little, taking a deep breath before exhaling loudly. "Well, phew! My story's finally done. How 'bout you, how'd you do during my three-week absence?"

"Ehh... it was okay."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah—oh wait!" she flailed her arms wildly. Sweatdropping, Sonic took that as his cue and held a hand out, catching the swing and stopping it from... well, swinging. Although chaos had the ability to keep their momentum moving, their feet were still too short to touch the ground. "I remember something!"

Sonic pressed his ears forward.

"There was this guy who took care of me."

"... Oh really?" Eyebrows raised in interest.

"Yup~ o'course, during the first few days it was boring and kinda lonely. I guess he noticed and came over. Then I told him my owner was on a trip collecting maple syrup all over Canada so he was nice and kept me company."

"Maple syrup huh," Sonic laughed, but his eyes softened as he listened to Kaiba tell her story. The fact that somebody actually noticed and did that for her warmed his heart. Looked like there were still random good people on the planet.

Maybe if someone reached out to _him_ earlier he wouldn't have been caught up with those punks in middle school. But then again, he wouldn't have met Knuckles and Tails...

"Guess some things are meant to be," he murmured to himself.

Kaiba nodded, despite the fact she wasn't aware of what Sonic was distractedly thinking about. She smacked his knee to get his attention again. "So yeah, the guy. And he had his own chao too and they'd visit me every couple of days to check up and play."

"Aw," a large grin from the hedgehog. "He sounds like a nice guy."

"Yeah, he was! Though it was kinda funny when I first saw him, cuz he's like one of those people... scary-lookin', yanno?"

"Well, never judge a book by its cover, that's what I always say!" Sonic jumped off his swing and held out his arms. Kaiba leaped into them happily. "Anyway it's getting cold out here, we should head back inside. You need to train anyway for _your_ tournament next week!"

"Ah, right, the race..."

The two had entered the building again and were making their way to the garden where Kaiba usually stayed.

"And oh yeah, one more thing," Sonic shook the chao in his arms to get her attention. "If you ever see that guy again you gotta tell me, okay? I owe him for takin' care of my little girl!"

A large smile and a nod. "Definitely!"

_x – x – x    
A week later...    
x – x – x_

Shining lights, the sound of a roaring crowd and the aura of competition in the air. It was invigorating and Sonic was very familiar with the feeling, but this time he wasn't the one in the spotlight. He looked down at the track, proudly watching a white hero chao doing some warm-ups with a bunch of other racers.

"Looks like competing is in the family."

Sonic turned around. Walking towards him was the owner of the obnoxious voice, Knuckles, and following closely were Tails and Amy.

"SONIC~!" Amy squealed, glomping the hedgehog in greeting. "How's Kaiba? Didja train her well for this day?"

"Of course I did! Now, erm, can you... breathing space...? My lungs..."

"Oops, my bad! (release)"

"Jeez woman, you need to learn how to control your strength!"

"Aw but I can't help it! You're so huggable!"

Knuckles stuck his face between the two. "Uh, yeah, excuse me lovebirds. The race is gonna start in five minutes."

"I'll find us seats!" Tails called, disappearing in the mess of people already on the bleachers.

The three watched him walk off before Sonic turned back to Knuckles. "Anyways. Okay, so first of all stop calling us that cuz that was years ago, and second damn right competition is in the family! Kai's gonna win today, just like she did last time!" He turned to the sky and laughed a victorious cackle.

Knuckles stared at him for a moment before looking at Amy's reaction. She just gave him a sheepish smile. "Yeah Knux, stop bringing it up."

"Heh, sorry. I guess it's bad enough Sonic can't get any girls nowadays."

The pink hedgehog looked over at Sonic who was grinning widely at the track.

Nope, not paying attention to them at all. She tilted her head. "Really? Good looking guy like him ain't popular with the ladies anymore?"

"Well he _would_ be if you didn't still act like his girlfriend..."

"What! I do not!"

"Riiight..."

Amy suddenly latched onto his arm, squealing in glee and squeezing his biceps. "Ohh Knuckles, you're so macho! Such nice arm muscles! I loooove you!"

"AHH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!" The red echidna started flailing wildly. He noticed the girls that were eyeing him previously had suddenly looked away, turned off by the "fact" that he was taken. "Nooo... Amy get OFF! My _image,_ woman! THINK OF MY IMAGE!"

"Would you two get over here already!?" Tails popped up out of nowhere and grabbed one of Knuckles' dreads, hauling him off. A content Amy giggled as she followed.

Meanwhile Sonic grinned as he just watched. "Losers..." he had to murmur (lovingly) under his breath. Then he turned back to the track and cupped his hands around his mouth to amplify. "Go for it, Kai! Kick butt out there!"

Kaiba nodded back at him, pumping her fist in the air determinedly. Sonic grinned in approval.

But the sound of distant cheering caught his attention. He looked to his right – in another section of the stadium another chao had won her own race. Reporters flocked all around and Sonic veered his attention to one of the TV screens on their side to listen to the live feedback.

"So how's it feel to win the challenging Amethyst race?!"

"Really awesome! Actually this my first one... so I'm glad I won it!"

"Did you hear that, ladies and gentleman!? Apparently this race was this fiery little chao's first – and a victorious one, at that! Let's applaud the youngster!"

Cue the cheering.

The blue hedgehog had to sweatdrop to himself. Good thing Kaiba decided to do the Peridot race instead of the Amethyst one... After a few more questions the red chao's interview ended and she looked around a little. Suddenly she perked up, waving her arms in a certain direction.

And Sonic watched as from that direction approached a black hedgehog.

Streaks of blood red lined black limbs and slightly upturned quills. A patch of white fur sat on his upper chest, and striking red eyes that currently glinted in pride for his chao also held a side of... refinement.

It was an odd contrast to what looked to be a trouble-making, even devilish façade... but Sonic couldn't keep his eyes away. He watched as the hedgehog lifted the red chao into dark arms; every movement was strong and confident, achieved in perfect elegance; such was the way he held himself up.

Then Sonic froze as the ruby eyes looked in his direction. It held him to the spot, immobilized him; but perhaps the hedgehog was looking at something above his head because he turned just as quickly back to his chao.

'_Whoa_.' Sonic put a hand to his chest, thinking it'd somehow calm his heart after feeling it jump a bit. '_... That was scary._'

He smirked in amusement. The guy had such an aura...

Everything about the black hedgehog screamed danger. Though at the same time, his air of class was unmistakable.

And to see somebody like that with a chao nuzzling his face... a lopsided grin appeared on the blue hedgehog's mouth.

But he couldn't keep his eyes away.

"Sonic... uh, Sonic..."

Finally realizing he was holding his breath, Sonic snapped out of his trance and turned to the voice he barely heard calling. "What?" He eyed Tails who was giving him a weird look. "Uh... you said something?"

"Yes," Tails gestured at Amy and Knuckles a little ways off. "Kaiba's race starts in ten minutes, c'mon before we miss it."

"Kaiba's race...?"

Sonic furrowed his eyebrows. For some reason he couldn't remember anything. Where was he again?

He glanced again at the dark hedgehog who was now walking out of the arena with his chao. "Kaiba's race...—ah! Yeah, of course! Yeah, let's get going..." he turned and walked off.

Tails just followed, raising an eyebrow. "Erm... is something up?"

"Up? Naw buddy, it's all good – hurry up before we miss it!"

The fox sweatdropped as he grabbed Sonic's arm and pulled him in the _correct_ direction. "Yeah yeah, that's what I said..."

_x – x – x_

The race was close, but after an intense battle through a large pool, an intelligence test, tree-shaking and rock-climbing, the victor had emerged: Kaiba! Needless to say Sonic and company were rejoicing madly in the stands and, still cheering, swept the chao into their arms when they met her down in the track. Cameras soon surrounded the chao and her proud owner, asking questions about the race. Sonic just smiled as he put Kaiba down to be level with the chao reporters... this scene reminded him of a similar one earlier.

The next day the two were at it again in the garden, recalling the events from the day before. This time the blue hedgehog had made sure it wasn't naptime so they wouldn't bother any of the other chaos.

"So didja see the way that gray chao and I battled up the climbing wall?!" Kaiba cackled, using wild arm gestures and sound effects to animate her conversation. She managed to catch the jellyball Sonic threw at her. "We were neck-in-neck, head-to-head! But then he started getting the upper hand, when _CRACK!_ The rock in his foot gave way! I took that as my chance Sonic, so I passed him but then _GASP!_ He caught my foot! But thankfully I managed to shake him off and _ZOOM_, finish the course one second before he did!"

Sonic laughed. Gasp? "Yeah he was pretty impressive, but he didn't match you _at all _in the running department! Ya totally owned him there!"

"Thank goodness, since he was a monster at everything else."

"I toldja~! Who knew you'd win? Who knew?"

"You knew!" She squealed and, still holding the ball, jumped into his arms. "Thanks _so _much for believing in me!"

"Don't mention it," he grinned and gave her a loving noogie on the head. "I gotta admit though, there _was_ some pretty tough competition at that tournament. And not just in the Peridot race you were in."

"Really?"

"Yep." Sonic sat down right where he stood. Kaiba settled for swaying side to side in front of him just because she felt energetic. "You should've seen it; over at the Amethyst track, there was this red chao. Popped up out of nowhere apparently, ran her first race and won. And uh, I thought it was a little funny, cuz her owner looked so intimidating, yanno? Stoic and cold." He laughed as he remembered, the same lopsided smile creeping its way onto tan cheeks. "Someone like that taking care of a chao..."

Meanwhile Kaiba just watched Sonic's expression carefully. She smiled and tapped his knee. "Like you say, never judge a book by its cover."

He looked up, grinning widely. "Hehe, that's right."

"By the way... can you tell me what kinda red chao?"

"Hmm... she was a normal type dark chao, tiger ears, limbs and tail and with animal wings... I can't remember what kinda wings though..." He had to scratch the back of his ears sheepishly. After all, it wasn't really _her_ he was focusing on during that moment...

"Maybe dragon wings?"

"Ohh yeah, dragon wings! How'd ya guess?"

"Just a hunch."

Kaiba giggled and pointed to the entrance. The hedgehog blinked, turning around. Indeed at the other side of the garden was the entrance, where a red dark chao with the exact same characteristics he just described was bouncing happily into the garden.

Sonic gasped and pointed. "Hey, that's her!"

A few seconds passed and a black and red hedgehog followed her in.

Green irises grew to the size of saucers upon seeing him. That unmistakable aura, the confident stature, and _those eyes _which left such an impression...! "What the... what's he—"

"Heeey, and that's him! The guy that took care of me while you were gone!"

Sonic had to double take.

Make that triple.

Or, err, quadruple.

"Wait—WHAT?!"

"The guy, the guy! That's him!" Kaiba squealed happily, suddenly grabbing Sonic's hand. And pulling.

All of a sudden it felt as if the hedgehog's lunch almost lurched out of his mouth. He could feel his blood racing through his body, and his chest started beating. _Wildly._ Like what he felt earlier at the stands, but multiplied by... a kajillion, maybe?

Sonic clutched his chest in surprise. What was happening!? Was he having a heart attack!? "No way!!" he sobbed. "I can't have a heart attack! I'm only twenty—" the second digit of his age was drowned out as a random chao beside him started wailing.

An attendant came by and carried the chao elsewhere. Kaiba then gave Sonic a weird look. "What??"

"Uh... what?"

"You're acting funny, Sonic. Come on, let's go!" she yanked his hand again.

"What for!?"

"Hello, don't you remember? You said that you wanted to thank the guy that looked after me. He's here, now's your chance!"

"Darn it Kaiba! Stop pulling me!"

"You know, I understand why you're nervous," the hero chao sighed after a moment. "I know he looks scary. But he's not all that bad!"

... Nervous?

Oh, so was _that_ what was going on in his body?

But Sonic just threw his head back and cackled, looking another direction. "Nervous?! Hah! Ahahaha!! You're a _riot_, kid—Sonic the Hedgehog _never_ gets nervous!" Though he had to resist the urge to punch his own stomach after feeling it doing a couple more unnecessary back flips. What the hell was going on in there, a circus!?

"Then... explain the stuttering, why your face looks like a tomato, why I could feel your pulse in your wrist when I was pulling it, and—"

"Look Kai, it's common knowledge that he should know I'm thankful. So there's no need to bother the dude, okay?"

"Hm~m, that wasn't what you said earlier..."

Green eyes stared down at large, black ones.

Challenging.

_Daring._

Then Kaiba turned and ran.

"What the—WHERE ARE YOU GOING!?"

Kaiba turned around. "I have to say hi to Aki, at least!"

Sonic stared. Aki? Ah, that must be the name of the red chao.

But his eyes widened. He could imagine it now...

_After greeting Aki, Kaiba turned to the black hedgehog. "Hiya! Nice to see you again! By the way, that's my owner." She turned and pointed to a blue hedgehog across the garden, awkwardly sitting by himself. "Yeah, he wanted to thank you for taking care of me but I don't know, now he's just acting funny. And his face is red. And he doesn't wanna come over, I think maybe he's just shy"—_

"Dammit—WAIT UP!" Sonic's eye twitched as he scrambled to his feet, catching his chao and scooping her into his arms.

"Teehee, I knew you'd see it my way." Kaiba cackled, playfully knocking the side of Sonic's head.

The hedgehog just twitched.

'_You evil, _evil_ little thing. Knux should stop visiting so much...'_

And so after a bit more bickering the two strolled over.

Both the black hedgehog and the red chao had their backs to them. The furry had one knee down as his eyes skimmed the surface of the pool while the chao was sitting on the edge, feet kicking happily as she tested out the water.

"Aki!"

The red chao 'hm?'-ed in question, squeaking as Kaiba glomped her from behind. She glanced over her shoulder and gasped as she realized who it was. "Whoa, Kaiba?! Yay~!" Aki laughed back. The two chao linked hands and jumped up and down, laughing in happiness at their reunion. "Gosh, long time no see!"

"It's only been a week, silly!"

"Uwah but it feels longer!"

"I know huh!"

"I'm so happy to see you!"

"Me too!!"

The two jumped around some more. Then Kaiba then went over to the dark hedgehog, hugging his leg. He chuckled lightly in response and patted her head in greeting. Kaiba giggled. "And you too, of course! Actually, I brought somebody to meet you guys..." Kaiba let go and used her arm to gesture behind them.

Both Aki and the dark hedgehog turned, seeing an awkwardly-smiling Sonic since he didn't know how else to put his face. Though he almost froze over again when his own emerald eyes made contact with ruby...

Kaiba giggled as she gestured at him. "That's my daddy."

Aki made an 'o' shape with her mouth before smiling up at Sonic in fascination. The dark hedgehog chose that instant to stand up, coming closer.

And actually, now that the guy was literally in front of him, the blue one noticed how the other hedgehog topped him in height by just a little bit... maybe an inch or two.

Sonic gave a mental sigh. Might as well...

"H... hey there," he started. "So, I've heard a lot about you from Kaiba. I'm Sonic..." He extended his other hand in greeting. "It's great to finally meet ya."

A sheepish grin.

Returned by a dashing smile.

And the two chaos watched and giggled in the background as the hedgehogs shook hands.

"Likewise. My name is Shadow."

* * *

A/N: *EXPLODES* Ohoho! "It's great to finally meet ya" _INDEED!_ Woo Shadow's heeere!! *does a dance* Phew, took him a while. Sorta. R+R? :3


End file.
